Wrapping Web Assembly And Wrapping Method

ABSTRACT

One exemplary embodiment of a method of forming a wrapping web assembly includes the steps of: providing a substantially continuous web of a wrapping material; providing an elongate tape stock comprising an adhesive tape portion having a release surface, and a double sided adhesive tape portion releasably adhered to said release surface; feeding said substantially continuous web of a wrapping material past a laminating station to an accumulator spool adapted to spool said web about an axis transverse its substantially continuous direction; feeding said elongate tape stock to said laminating station and cutting the elongate tape stock into discrete tape assemblies; adhering said discrete tape assemblies substantially transversely in spaced relation on one surface of said web; and spooling said web to said accumulator spool whereby an exposed adhesive layer of the tape assembly adheres in the spool to the other surface of the web.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/907,683, filed on Feb. 26, 2016, which is a national stageapplication of International Patent Application No. PCT/AU2013/001352,filed Nov. 25, 2013, which claims priority to Australian ApplicationNumber 2013902776, filed Jul. 26, 2013, the disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a wrapping web assembly and a wrapping methodemploying same. This invention has particular application to a wrappingfilm assembly and method for field-baling cotton, and for illustrativepurposes the invention will be described with reference to thisapplication. However we envisage that this invention may find use inother applications such as wrapping pallets, rolls of goods and otherlike applications.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and shouldnot be taken as, an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that thereferenced prior art forms part of the common general knowledge inAustralia.

AU2003292463 (B2) discloses a method and material for wrapping itemsusing a wrapping material made up of separate wrapping portions of apredetermined length. The wrapping portions are attached and released attheir ends using a Z-lock system. The Z-lock system holds the wrappingportions together during manufacturing but can also easily release orseparate the wrapping portions at a desired point in the wrappingprocess. The separating of the wrapping portions exposes an adhesivethat is use to securely bond at least one wrapping portion to the itembeing wrapped at the end of a wrapping cycle.

The essential features of the wrapping material are a plurality of firstwrapping portions, a plurality of second wrapping portions, at least oneof said plurality of first wrapping portions and at least one of saidplurality of second wrapping portions bonded at their respective lateralends to form at least one bonded wrapping segment, at least one laminateportion capable of holding together and subsequently releasing said atleast one of said plurality of first wrapping portions and said at leastone of said plurality of said second wrapping portions during a wrappingcycle, wherein a plurality of bonded wrapping segments together form acontinuous roll of wrapping material.

AU2005300259 (B2) discloses a method and material for wrapping itemsusing a wrapping material made up of separate wrapping portions of apredetermined length. The wrapping portions are attached and released attheir ends using a Z-lock system including a discrete laminate. Thediscrete laminate of the Z-lock system holds the wrapping portionstogether during manufacturing but can also easily release or separatethe wrapping portions at a desired point in the wrapping process. Theseparating of the wrapping portions exposes an adhesive that is use tosecurely bond at least one wrapping portion to the item being wrapped atthe end of a wrapping cycle.

The essential features of the invention were a wrapping materialcomprising a first wrapping portion having a first end and an oppositesecond end, a second wrapping portion having a first end and an oppositesecond end that correspond to the first end and opposite second end ofsaid first wrapping portion, a discrete laminate comprising a substratehaving a first portion and a second portion, each of said first andsecond portions having an adhesive thereon, said first portion of saiddiscrete laminate forming a permanent bond between said first end ofsaid first wrapping portion and said second portion of said discretelaminate forming a releasable bond between said opposite second end ofsaid second wrapping portion for holding together said first and secondwrapping portions thereby forming a continuous wrapping material, whenan item is being wrapped with said continuous wrapping material, saidfirst wrapping portion is released from said second wrapping portion viasaid releasable bond between said second portion of said laminate andsaid opposite second end of said second wrapping portion, and one ofsaid first end of said first wrapping portion, said second end of saidsecond wrapping portion, or said discrete laminate is folded back onitself.

Another aspect differs in having a plurality of wrapping portions eachhaving a first end and an opposite second end.

A further aspect has a right wrapping portion having a first end foldedback on itself to form a V-shaped fold and an opposite second end and aleft wrapping portion having a first end and an opposite second end thatoverlaps a portion of said V-shaped fold of said first end of said firstwrapping portion, the discrete laminate in this case having its firstportion permanently adhered to a surface of the V-shaped fold and itssecond portion releasably adhered to a surface of the opposite secondend of the left wrapping portion so as to form a continuous web ofwrapping material that releases said right wrapping portion from saidcontinuous web of wrapping material during a wrapping cycle, and when anitem is being wrapped with said right wrapping portion during thewrapping cycle, said second portion of said discrete laminate releasesfrom said respective opposite second end of said left wrapping portion.

In a yet further aspect there is provided a wrapping material comprisinga right wrapping portion having a first end and an opposite second end,a left wrapping portion having a first end and an opposite second endfolded back on itself to form a V-shaped fold and said first end of saidright wrapping portion overlaps only a portion of said V-shaped fold,and a discrete laminate comprising a substrate having a first portionand a second portion, each of said first and second portions having anadhesive layer thereon, said adhesive layer facing said right and leftwrapping portions, said first portion of said discrete laminate beingreleasably adhered over an upper surface of said V-shaped fold and saidsecond portion of said discrete laminate being permanently adhered to anupper surface of said first end of said right wrapping portion so as toform a continuous web of wrapping material that releases said first andsecond portions during a wrapping cycle, and when an item is beingwrapped with said right wrapping portion during the wrapping.

A principal disadvantage of such constructs is the need to assemble thecontinuous web from elements of predetermined length, rather thanproduce the film as a continuous web.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect the present invention resides broadly in a wrapping webassembly including:

a substantially continuous web of a wrapping material; and

a plurality of elongate tape assemblies located substantiallytransversely on and in spaced relation along said web, each said tapeassembly comprising an adhesive tape portion adhered to one surface ofsaid web and having a release surface, and a double sided adhesive tapeportion releasably adhered to said release surface and adapted to adhereto the other surface of said web as it is spooled about an axistransverse its substantially continuous direction to form a roll.

The substantially continuous web may comprise a polyolefin or copolymerfilm, woven or non-woven material, netting or the like. For cottonbaling the substantially continuous web may comprise polyethylene (PE)or other suitable polymeric material. Typically a PE wrapping film forcotton baling purposes is between 20 to 120 microns thick and 0.5 to 4.0m in width. The film is selected to have a combination of plastic andelastic deformation to bale cotton cylindrically under tension. Thebaling film may be transparent or opaque.

In the elongate tape assemblies, the adhesive tape portion may have anynumber of physical layers to impart the desired properties of having abonding surface adhering to the web and a release surface against whichthe double sided adhesive tape portion is releasably adhered. Theadhesive tape portion may comprise a paper, polyolefin, polyester,fabric or other tape body having one surface coated with a contact orpressure sensitive adhesive layer and the other surface coated orfinished in a release surface. The tape body does not have a highspecification requirement and thus may be paper or standard PE film.

For example, the adhesive tape portion may comprise a polyethylene tapehaving a siliconized release coating adjacent the double sided adhesivetape portion and a synthetic rubber adhesive layer.

The adhesive side of the adhesive tape portion may be any suitableadhesive as would be apparent to a person skilled in the art; theadhesive in use must only resist peeling forces in competition with therelease surface and it is not necessary to optimise the adhesive forsheer. In addition it is not necessary that the adhesive be particularlyhigh tenacity or high tack. For example, economical rubber basedadhesive will suffice. The release surface may for example include a lowsurface energy polymer coating such as selected polyolefin orpoly(haloalkene) polymer such as polytetrafluoroethylene and/or anapplied treatment such as a silicone coating.

The double sided adhesive tape portion may take any form consistent withhigh coherence in adhesion to the web of an exposed adhesive surface onspooling of the web, good release properties from the release surface ofthe adhesive tape portion as the spooled web is unrolled, and good sheerstrength of the adhesion of the released adhesive layer to the web onwrapping of an article. The double sided adhesive tape portion is in itsnature a relatively high wet-grab double-sided tape. The double sidedadhesive tape portion may comprise any number of physical layers toprovide the properties of a tape carrier body having adhesive on bothmajor surfaces of the tape.

The unspooling action produces a peeling action permitting separation ofthe adhesive tape portion and double sided adhesive tape portion,leaving the now-redundant adhesive tape portion secured to the web andpresenting only its release surface, while the attached double sidedadhesive tape portion exposes a high wet-grab contact or pressuresensitive adhesive surface. This exposed adhesive surface is thussubstantially uncontaminated and available to close the web about anobject to be baled such as a roll of harvested cotton.

In practice it has been found that a degree of resistance to stretchingand/or flex is desirable in the double sided adhesive tape portion. Thisis to enable a fine tuned selection of adhesive properties to allow thefreed double sided adhesive tape on unrolling of the rolled web to passwith the web through rollers in the wrapping process. For example it hasbeen found that low stretch films may be selected empirically for thepurpose, such as PVC, polyester, and uniaxially- or biaxially-orientedor stereoregular polyolefin or copolymer films may also be used.

At its simplest, the double sided tape laminate is a double-sidedadhesive biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) tape such as thatmarketed by BiesSse® as “221”, based on a transparent rigid BOPP tapecarrier and high tenacity rubber pressure sensitive adhesive on bothsides. The carrier may have the same or different adhesives on each sideof the carrier. The BOPP carrier tape is a low-stretch tape and as suchmay be substituted by any comparable material such as orientedpolyvinylchloride (PVC). The rubber adhesive may be substituted by anacrylic adhesive or the like, as would be appreciated by a personskilled in the art.

The tape assembly may be of any width selected to provide a selectedsheer strength for the anticipated use, having regard to the selectedadhesive layer properties. For example, for cotton baling the tapeassembly may be between 150 and 300 mm wide, and typically about 250 mmfor BOPP tape double sided with high tenacity rubber pressure sensitiveadhesive.

The tape assembly may be provided for attachment to the web as a tapeassembly stock. In order to store and deliver the tape assembly stock toan applicator apparatus setting the tape assemblies to the web, thestock may be spooled. The spooled stock may have the exposed adhesivesurfaces of the adhesive tape and double sided adhesive tape separatedby a single, double sided release film. For example, the respectiveexposed adhesive surfaces may be separated by a silicone coated filmsuch as transparent silicone coated pattern film.

In a further aspect this invention resides in an elongate tape stockincluding:

an adhesive tape portion having a release surface;

a double sided adhesive tape portion releasably adhered to said releasesurface; and

a double sided release film adapted to separate exposed adhesivesurfaces of the adhesive tape and the double sided adhesive tapeportions when rolled.

As the elongate tape stock is spooled, the double sided release layercloses over the exposed adhesive layer double surfaced release layer,permitting the elongate tape stock to be rolled up for storage anddeployment.

The wrapping web assembly of the present invention may be assembled byany process as would be apparent to a person skilled in the art. In afurther aspect the invention resides broadly in a method of forming awrapping web assembly, including the steps of:

providing a substantially continuous web of a wrapping material;

providing an elongate tape stock comprising an adhesive tape portionhaving a release surface, and a double sided adhesive tape portionreleasably adhered to said release surface;

feeding said substantially continuous web of a wrapping material past alaminating station to an accumulator spool adapted to spool said webabout an axis transverse its substantially continuous direction;

feeding said elongate tape stock to said laminating station and cuttingthe elongate tape stock into discrete tape assemblies;

adhering said discrete tape assemblies substantially transversely inspaced relation on one surface of said web; and

spooling said web to said accumulator spool whereby an exposed adhesivelayer of the tape assembly adheres in the spool to the other surface ofthe web.

For example the substantially continuous web of a wrapping material maypass from a source spool to a delivery spool, exposing a running websurface. The elongate tape assembly may be provided as a spooled tapestock wherein a double sided release film is adapted to separate exposedadhesive surfaces of the adhesive tape and the double sided adhesivetape portions when rolled. A spool of the elongate tape stock may be fedvia a release film stripper assembly to an applicator assembly adaptedto shuttle across the face of the web to deploy the tape assembly andcut it to length, and roll back to engage the tape assembly with theweb. The process may be made substantially continuous by mounting theapplicator assembly slidably on a transversely-reciprocating beam. Inthis arrangement the relative speed of the web and applicator are thesame at least for the engagement phase.

The spacing of the elongate tape assemblies along the web may beselected having regard to the size of the article to be wrapped. Forexample, for wrapping by rotation of the item to be wrapped or windingof the wrapping web assembly about the object, the spacing is selectedsuch that the adhesive surface exposed by separation of the first andsecond tape laminate portions self-adheres to the overlap of web aboutthe wrapped article.

When baling cotton, the diameter of a roll of cotton is approximately2.4 metres and standard practice has 3 complete wraps of the cotton balemade with the green PE baling film, which calculates as 22 metres ofwrap when wrapped. In practice, with baling tension in the film, 21lineal metres (approx.) of spooled product is required.

Accordingly, the tape laminate assemblies may be laid every 21 metres onthe green baling poly film, and the green baling poly film may beperforated across the width of the web adjacent to the tape laminateposition. There are generally 24 applications, of 21 lineal metres each(24 applications×21 lineal metres=504 lineal metres) comprising 1 rollwhich may be set inside a cotton harvester.

The tape laminate is applied parallel to the perforation, offsetslightly from the perforation, for example, by a few millimetres. Thisis so when the final wrap is performed and the tape sandwich is holdingdown that final layer, the edge of the tape sandwich is as close to theedge of the perforation as possible to prevent any extended lip of thefilm ‘lifting away’ because of wind, dust, water penetration or thelike.

The spooled wrapping web assembly may be delivered to and integratedwith machinery such as a cotton harvester having a wrapping mechanismsuch as that described in AU2003292463 and AU2005300259. In thisapplication the wrapping web assembly tension-wraps the nascent bale,the tension being selected having regard to both the sheer strength ofthe adhesive bond and the plastic/elastic properties of the web.

As the unspooled web exposes the adhesive surface, the baling equipmentfilm laying rollers must either act on the obverse surface of the webrelative to the adhesive surface side, or must include rollers of lowsurface energy, that is, of substantially non-stick character.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described with reference to the followingnon-limiting embodiment of the invention as illustrated in the drawingsand wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of the act of assembly of a wrapping web assembly inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the apparatus of FIG. 1, afterapplication of the tape laminate assembly and being rolled up to formthe deployable form of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a detail view of the mode of tape portion separation of thewrapping web in use; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the deployment of FIG. 3, inverted forclarity, wherein the web assembly is being deployed for wrapping.

In FIGS. 1 and 2 there is illustrated the formation of a wrapping webassembly from a green polyethylene baling web 11. Adhered along thebaling web 11 are transverse, 250 mm-wide elongate tape assemblies 12 ona 21-metre spacing and which have been released from a supply spool (notshown) by separation from a double sided release film 13 and cutting tolength. The tape assemblies 12 comprise a double sided adhesive tapeportion 14 adhered to the baling web 11 and an adhesive tape laminateportion 15 having a release surface overlying the double sided adhesivetape portion 14.

The adhesive tape portion 15 comprises a white polyethylene tape 16having a siliconized release coating adjacent the double sided adhesivetape portion and a synthetic rubber adhesive layer 17. The releasecoating is not a layer per se but in instead a thin coating modifyingthe surface energy of the polyethylene tape 16.

The double sided adhesive tape portion 14 comprises a BiesSse® 221 BOPPcarrier tape 19 having rubber-based adhesive layer 20 overlying saidrelease coating and an exposed rubber-based adhesive layer 21.

The elongate tape assemblies 12 are laid up at the said about 21-metrespaced relation on the front surface 25 of the web 11 as it passes froma supply spool 22 to an accumulator spool 23. The spacing is selectedhaving regard to what is being wrapped. In the present case the spacingis selected to poly bale cotton. The elongate tape assemblies areadjacent perforations 26 defining discrete tear-off locations, wherebythere is little tendency for wind, dust, water penetration or the liketending to unbale the cotton.

The exposed adhesive layer 17 of the adhesive tape 15 means that, whenthe web 11 is rolled up after application of the elongate tapeassemblies 12, the exposed adhesive layer 17 permanently adheres to theback surface 24 of the web 11. This is best understood with reference toFIG. 2. The rolled up wrapping web assembly 10 on its accumulator spool23 may then be transhipped to the point of use, in this case to a cottonharvester having integrated field baling equipment.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the wrapping web assembly 10 is deployed byunwinding from the accumulator spool 23 directly into a baling assembly(not shown). The elongate tape assemblies 12 are permanently bonded tothe outer 24 and inner 25 surfaces of the web 11 by the synthetic rubberadhesive layer 17 of the adhesive tape portion 14 and adhesive layer 21of the double sided adhesive tape portion 15.

As the web 11 unspools from the accumulator spool 23, peel forces areapplied to the tape assembly 12 at the point where the web 11 leaves thespool 23. This causes separation of the adhesive 14 and double sidedadhesive 15 tape portions, with the release coating of the adhesive tapeportion 14 peeling away from and exposing the rubber adhesive layer 20of the double sided adhesive tape portion 15. The unspooling wrappingweb assembly 10 feeds a conventional poly baling machine, with rollersadapted to allow the rubber adhesive layer 20 to pass. The balingmachine cuts the trailing portion of the web 11, as the bale is securedby bonding of the exposed rubber adhesive layer 20 to the web 11, bytearing along perforations 26.

Apparatus in accordance with the foregoing embodiment has the advantageof being on a continuous web, avoiding the need to fabricate an assemblyof discrete portions. Manufacture is cheaper and field deployment ismore reliable.

It will of course be realised that while the above has been given by wayof illustrative example of this invention, all such and othermodifications and variations thereto as would be apparent to personsskilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambitof this invention as is set forth in the claims appended hereto.

1. (canceled)
 2. A method of forming a wrapping web assembly, comprisingthe steps of: providing a continuous web of a wrapping materialincluding a first surface and a second surface opposite the firstsurface; applying a first adhesive surface of a tape assembly portiononto a portion of the first surface, the tape assembly portion includingthe first adhesive surface, a second adhesive surface opposite the firstadhesive surface, a first release layer overlying the second adhesivesurface, and a third adhesive surface overlying the first release layer;spooling the continuous web onto a spool whereby as the tape assemblyportion is rotated around the spool, the third adhesive surface of thetape assembly portion is applied to a portion of the second surface. 3.The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of applying a firstadhesive surface of a second tape assembly portion onto a second portionof the first surface of the continuous web, the first portion of thecontinuous web spaced from the second portion of the continuous web. 4.The method of claim 3, wherein the second portion of the first surfaceof the continuous web is about 21 meters from the first portion of thecontinuous web.
 5. The method of claim 2, wherein the continuous webincludes at least one perforation, wherein the portion of the firstsurface of the continuous web is adjacent to the perforation.
 6. Themethod of claim 5, wherein, during the spooling step, the portion of thesecond surface, to which the third adhesive surface is applied, is onthe opposite side of the perforation from the portion of the firstsurface to which the first adhesive surface is applied.
 7. The method ofclaim 2, wherein during the providing step, the continuous web ofwrapping material is provided on a source spool.
 8. The method of claim2, wherein during the applying step, the tape assembly portion isprovided from a continuous tape assembly stock.
 9. The method of claim8, further comprising the step of separating the tape assembly portionfrom a continuous tape assembly stock.
 10. A method of baling anagricultural product, comprising the steps of: obtaining a wrappingmaterial, the wrapping material including a continuous web wound ontoitself in the form of a roll, and a tape assembly portion positionedbetween a first surface of the continuous web and a second, oppositesurface of the continuous web, the tape assembly portion including afirst adhesive surface, a second adhesive surface opposite the firstadhesive surface, a first release layer overlying the second adhesivesurface, and a third adhesive surface overlying the first release layer,wherein, in this position, the first adhesive surface is applied to aparticular portion of the first surface of the continuous web and thethird adhesive surface is applied to a particular portion of the secondsurface of the continuous web; unwinding a leading end of the wrappingmaterial to wrap the wrapping material around the product, whereinduring the unwinding step, the first release layer of the tape assemblyportion separates from the second adhesive surface to expose the secondadhesive surface, and the first adhesive surface remains applied to thefirst surface of the continuous web and the third adhesive surfaceremains applied to the second surface of the continuous web; separatingat least part of the unwound wrapping material from the remainder of thewrapping material to form a wrapping section of the wrapping material,wherein the wrapping section includes the exposed second adhesivesurface of the tape assembly portion; and applying the second adhesivesurface to the continuous web of the wrapping section of the wrappingmaterial.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of applying thesecond adhesive surface secures the wrapping section around theagricultural product.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein theagricultural product is cotton.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein thecontinuous web of the wrapping material includes a plurality ofperforations, and the separating step includes separating the wrappingsection by tearing along one of the plurality of perforations.
 14. Themethod of claim 13, wherein a tape assembly portion is positionedadjacent to each perforation such that a particular tape assemblyportion is adjacent to one of the plurality of perforations and on atrailing end of a particular wrapping section, wherein the step ofapplying the second adhesive surface includes securing the trailing endof the wrapping section to the wrapping section to secure the wrappingsection around the agricultural product.
 15. The method of claim 14,wherein during the unwinding step, the third adhesive surface remainsapplied to a subsequent wrapping section.
 16. The method of claim 15,wherein the third adhesive surface remains applied to a leading portionof the subsequent wrapping section.
 17. The method of claim 10, whereinat least the unwinding, separating and applying steps are performedwithin a baling machine.
 18. The method of claim 10, wherein at leastthe unwinding, separating and applying steps are performed within acotton harvester.
 19. The method of claim 10, wherein, in the obtainingstep, the wrapping material is positioned on a spool, wherein during theunwinding step, the spool is rotated to unwind the wrapping material.20. The method of claim 10, wherein the tape assembly portion comprisesmore than one tape assembly portion, wherein the obtaining step furthercomprises more than one tape assembly portion positioned in spacedrelation to one another along the rolled continuous web and between afirst surface of the continuous web and a second, opposite surface ofthe continuous web.
 21. The method of claim 20, wherein each tapeassembly portion is spaced about 21 meters from any subsequent orpreceding tape assembly portion.